Box-fastener.



No. 697,l95. Patented Apr. 8, I902.

A. C. BRENCKLE &. W. A. ANGER.

BOX FASTENEB.

(Application filed Jan. 7, 1902.) (No Model.)

ARTHUR C. BRENCKLE AND \VALTER A. ANGER, OF MILWAUKEE, \VISCONSIN.

BOX-FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 697,195, dated April 8, 1902.

Application filed January 27, 1902. Serial No. 91,338. (No model.)

To all 2072 0772, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ARTHUR O. BRENCKLE and l/VALTER A. ANGER,citiZens of the United States, and residents of Milwaukee, in the cou nty of Milwaukee and State of \Visconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Box-Fastening Devices; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

Our invention has especial reference to fastenings designed for boxes containing bottled goods, though not necessarily confined thereto; and it consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts, as will be fully set forth hereinafter in connection with the accompanying drawings and subsequently claimed.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a portion of a box fastened with our improved device. Fig. 2 isa vertical sectional view of the same, taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l and showing also the fastening devices secured by a seal. Fig. 3 is a detail horizontal sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, partlybroken away and with the seal removed to better illustrate certain details of construction.

Referring to the drawings, a represents the rear wall of a box, I) thefront wall, and cthe lid or cover, hinged to the rear wall, as shown at d. The front wall I) is shown cut out or through at its central upper edge, the opening thus formed being closed by the closingplate 6, hereinafter more particularly described, secured to the inner and upper surface of the said front wall, as bynails, screws, bolts, or rivets f f. The described opening through the box-wall is further preferably formed with inwardly-beveled side walls 9 g and a downwardly-beveled lower Wall h, and the upper portion of the closing-plate e is bent forwardly at each end to form the ears it", whose inner opposed edges are beveled inwardly toward each other from front to rear, (substantially like the described side walls g g of the opening,) while the intermediate portion of the upper part of the plate 6 is concavely rounded and inclined forwardly from the top downward to form the guide-pocket j, the upper line of said guide-pocket merging into the lines of the opposed beveled edges of the ears t' t, as best shown in Fig. The inner surfaceof the frontwall b of the box is further preferably cut away on an oblique line, as shown at Ya, from the lower inner edge of the beveled lower wall h of the opening down as far as the bottom line of the plate 6 to leave a space in front of said plate when it is secured in position for the play or movement of a spring-tongue on, whose lower end is secured to said plate eby rivets n and which tongue is formed with a transverse slot 0 therethrough, and just above same the free end of the spring-tongue is curved upwardly and outwardly to form a finger-grasp p, having a hole q through the same.

Secured to the under side of the front central portion of the lid or cover 0 is the shank rof aspring-catch, having a downturned portion 5, terminating in a forward-projecting end 6, having a hole u therethrough, and when the box is fastened by the engagement of the end 25 of the spring-catch within the slot 0 of the spring-tongue the parts may be secured in the locked condition bya metal seal v, connected to a wire 20, which wire is passed up through the holes u q in the described catch and tongue and thence over the top of the finger-grasp end 1:) of the tongue and down and then secured to the seal in the ordinary manner,the said seal and its wire being wholly within the walls of the said opening in the front wall I) in front of the closing-plate e and back of the front outer line of said front wall, all as best shown in Fig. 2, and then, if desired, a paper seal can be pasted over and conceal said opening and seal c.

When the box is sealed, as described, it

will of course be necessary to break the wire to to open the lid or cover; but when not sealed it is only necessaryto pull the fingergrasp p forward until the front end of the part '5 of the catch is freed from engagement with the spring-tongue we when the lid or cover is to be raised. When the lid or cover is dropped, the said end 23 of the catch, whose front edge is rounded, as shown best in Fig. 3, will be automatically guided to the slot 0 in the spring-tongue an (even if the lid or cover is somewhat loose on its hinges, as often happens from frequent use and wear) by the 'described opposed inner edges of the ears i t'of covering said opening;

the plate and by the described configuration ofthe guide-pocketj and of the end titself,and therefore our fastening device will continue to give satisfaction as long as it lasts.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a box, provided with a cover and having an opening in its front wall, of a closing-plate rigidly secured to the inner surface of said front wall and wholly coveringsaid opening; a spring-tongue secured between the front of the closing-plate and the back of the said front wall, and having a slotted free upper end; and a springcatch secured to the under side of said cover, and having a downward-projecting portion for engagement with the slot in the said spring-tongue.

2. The combination with a box, provided with a cover, and having an opening in its front wall, ofa closing-plate rigidly secured to the inner surface of said front wall and wholly a spring-tongue secured between the front of the closing-plate and the back-of the said front wall, and having a free upper end formed with a slot and another hole therethrough; a spring-catch secured to the under side of said cover and having a downturned portion for engagement with the slotin said spring-tongue,said springcatch having also ahole'therethrough; and a wire seal passed through the holes in the said catch and tongue, and lying wholly within the walls of the said openingin the front wall, back of the front outer line of said front wall and in front of said closing-plate.

3. The combination with a box, provided with a cover, and having an opening in its front wall, ofa closing-plate rigidly secured to the inner surface of said front wall and wholly covering said opening, and being formed with a concave inclined guide-pocket in its upper portion; a spring-tongue rigidly secured to thefront surface of said plate, and having play or movement between the plate and the back of the front Wall and the free upper end of said spring-tongue having a slot therethrough, and beingcu'rved outwardly and upwardly; and a spring-catch secured to the under side of said cover and having a downturned portion for engagement with said guide-pocket in the closing-plate, and a forwardly-projecting end for engagement with the slot in the spring-tongue.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our hands,atMilwau kee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of VVisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR C. BRENOKLE. WALTER A. ANGER.

Witnesses:

H. G. UNDERWOOD, B. O. RoLoFF. 

